The Crown Jewels (or, what a sovereign needs)

[Greybar]

While flying back home this holiday, I was thinking on what kind of "Crown Jewels" a soverign in a D&D world would have. In a world with great magic influence, mere pretty gems are not good enough. The sovereign is in terrible danger from launched spells, teleporting or invisible assailants, and summoned attackers. That crown had better do more than look expensive!

So what dangers would a classic D&D sovereign need defense from in a high-magic world like Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk? Here's some of my thoughts so far, I'd love to hear more.

Danger from Teleporting enemies
* Dimensional lock in private areas as well as receiving rooms/court. Perhaps a dimension lock 100' radius capability imbued in an item?
* Use of teleport/recall as an escape mechanism. Note that it may not be great for your image as a leader to be poofing into thin air anytime someone waves a sword need you.

Danger from ethereal/shadow or other overlaid planes
* Armed guardposts that are in the corresponding location on overlying planes as the sovereign seat.
* Dimensional lock items as above.

Invisible enemies
* Invisibility Purge (perhaps tied to a hallow around the throne area) is a must
* See Invisible items for chief bodyguards is high on the list

Magic, particularly Instant-kill and death-magic
* Save boosting items, particularly those specific to death magic and negative energy
* spell resistance items
* cleric or item with raise/restoration capability nearby
* Globe of Invulnerability sounds like a key power for a crown

Physical threat
* Bodyguards, particular those tied to the sovereign through Shield Other type effects
* Repulsion, Wall of Force, and the like

General Boosting for Sovereigns
* Boosting Int, Wis, and Chr are naturals for rulers.
* command, emotion are power presenters that may have limited usefulness for benign rulers (the payback is a banshee)
* detect lies, zone of truth are good passive powers

Okay, what else? I'd consider the cost of such items to be very secondary, since the ruling line has had generations to build up the wealth in these items that are critical to surviving the "high magic" world.

john

 

[Greybar]

Oh, here's a minor example as worn by a Salamander Noble IMC.

Crown of Fire: A crown of brass and rubies. The rubies are cut in the shape of flames leaping from the brassy crown.
* Command (at will) DC14
* Status (1/day) for 9 creatures for 9 hours
* Elemental Resistance 5 (all but sonics)

john

 

[Nightfall]

Well I figure if he's a SMART guy, get Ioun Stones as part of the setup. Also perhaps have enchanted the jewels with elemental protections and be able to rebuke/command each of those elemental types. Allow will saves for those that are just of the sub-type, like red dragons and such. But yeah, have a ruby, an emerald, a sapphire, and diamond for each of the elements. Then at the center, a black opal to protect against shadow magics, negative energy, ability drains, and also redirect such attacks.

Howse that for a crown?

 

[Mark]

True seeing of some sort would be useful...

 

[Knightcrawler]

Dimensional Lock and Anti-Magic Shell

 

[Goobermunch]

And if the monarch is particularly nasty, a ritual version of shield other. It ties the monarch to the the people. Every time the monarch takes damage, a peasant dies.

Le roy est l'etat.

--G

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah but I'd save that for despots. If you want your monarch to be good, my idea would be one of the jewels activates a Shield Guardian.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Well, ideally, I think that the Regalia of Good/Neutrality/Evil sort of sums it up, but since those are notable artifacts in their own right....

It is possible/feasible to perhaps have various sorts of royal regalia that double as magic items. Some of the obvious implements would be the Crown, Orb, and Scepter (ala the Regalia artifacts), but perhaps some other items may work. For example:

* There could be 2 enchanted crowns--the elaborate coronation crown, and the simpler, day-to-day wear crown. The coronation crown could serve as a focus for activating protective spells or whatnot, while the day-today crown could help perpetuate the spells, or serve as a protective item in its own right.

* While a scepter could only see use during coronation, it could be feasible to be a frequently carried item instead. Perhaps the scepter would have the powers of a magical rod, and at the very least, serve as a sort of enchanted mace (most likely a light mace, but maybe a heavy mace). For example, a dwarven king who rules a underground mining realm & serves as a battle-leader could have a rod fo metal & mineral detection that also acts as an enchanted heavy mace.

* A very feasible idea is to have an enchanted sword--the sword of state used to dub knights, etc. It could be a powerful protective weapon for the king Any melee weapon could work, but swords seem to be a popular choice.

* A ring, medallion/amulet, bracelet/bracers, or other piece of personal jewelry could also work well--the Nine Rings of the Kings of Men/Nazgul, as well as the Ring of Barahir (Aragorn's Ring) are good examples of a ring indicating title.

* A lavish cloak, belt, robe, or other fine vestments could serve a sovereign well. Whether it's a potent cloak of charisma or an artifact-level item, it's another way of having the clothes make the man.

* Armor is always a great option for warrior-kings, but some sort of magical protective items work well in general, whether it's a mithral shirt, bracers of armor, etc.

Also, intelligent items (made/charged with the duty of defending the sovereign/nation) always have nifty powers to assist their wielders (and possibly even act as a failsafe to ensure that a sovereign acts for the best interests of the people/nation instead of himself/herself).

 

[Nightfall]

Though to be fair, to have a monarch with such resonance items, even ones with intelligence, requires a LOT of gold and usually the right wizard/cleric/spellcaster for the job. And while you can hire just about anyone to enchant jewels, it takes some REAL skill to make a lot of the artifacts in question to be used. This isn't to say it can't be done, BUT it will take time and energy. Far more than just enchanting a few items here and there.

 

[Numion]

The crown or whatnot should be a very powerful and very intelligent item. This way the kingdom would be protected from incompetent heirs or usurpers. The rulership would remain constant.

Think about it. Somewhere down the line, in the distant past, one ruler of the kingdom probably wanted to ensure the continuation of the kingdom, and does an intelligent crown jewels. That way no one can really mess with the leadership of the kingdom.

There could be different versions of this - maybe the items purpose was betrayed the creator who was the secretly evil court wizard, maybe the item was commissioned by a good leader who saw the evil in his own heir etc.. The point is that the crown jewel is the de facto ruler of the kingdom.